OnStar Rant

[JohnnyComeLately]

Not a ridiculous overreaction. I would have been pissed too, although the degree of pissed offedness would be proportional to the song and volume. If I had "Come with me" Puff Daddy with Jimmy Page (Led Zepplin) blasting at max volume on the open highway, pissed would have been an understatement. If it was in the .00001 milliseconds between my brain recognizing a Justin Beiber song on the radio, and the lightning quick grab for the station changing button, I'd have been ok and called OnStar to thank them (kidding....about calling to thank, not the rest).

I don't even like commercials when I expect commercials. I used to ride 90 minutes each way to work, 5 days a week, and bluetoothed Pandora to my motorcycle helmet's Chatterbox the whole way. I think I heard 3 commercials roughly. I paid the $30 to drop it to zero (0)

So long story short, I would have done the same as the OP. I think this really boils down to how much do you get into your music and enjoy it. If you don't care, you'll say overreact. If you really get a great deal of enjoyment from music, it's very annoying. Just as, some people say it's a waste to spend $3,000 on a set of top of the line Focal 6.5" components for their car. Others, have the "ear" to hear the difference, although they're not likely going to be listening to XM/Sirius though since their quality is low due to high digital rates of compression.

[5cents]

Let it out dude .... let it out.

Like you said, some like OnStar .... some don't. I don't, it's like Big Brother watching your every move. They send me monthly emails on the "condition" of my car. Left front tire is 1# low on air pressure, oil service life is currently at 65%, things like that bother me. If they can tell me that, what else do they monitor? They surely know then that I have had my Camaro up to 112 mph on occassion. Does that mean, that if I ever have a engine warranty problem, GM can go to OnStar and find out how I drive my car?

But what I think bothers me the most about GM and OnStar is that you can't get a GM vehicle without it now. I hate that ugly OnStar fin on my roof, it ruins the looks of the vehicle. It's not as bad on the Camaro, because it's in the center of the roof towards the rear, but on my Silverado pickup, it up front and off to the side. I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT !!!!!

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by Cam2011

Seriously? It was one call and under a minute long, and as I recall it gave you an opportunity to hang up and not listen rather quickly into the call. Also Satellite was billed as commercial free radio, and now they have commercials.

The normal music channels on XM do not have commercials, only the talk channels do (because the hosts need a break) and the 6 or 7 terrestrial stations that they rebroadcast (because its a rebroadcast).

[5cents]

Originally Posted by Rogue Leader

The normal music channels on XM do not have commercials, only the talk channels do (because the hosts need a break) and the 6 or 7 terrestrial stations that they rebroadcast (because its a rebroadcast).

Rogue ..... This sounds more like it was a telephone call rather than a radio ad. Incoming Bluetooth calls do that, your radio cuts out and the phone voice comes out of the car speakers. Called "hands-free".

[JohnnyComeLately]

Originally Posted by 5cents

Does that mean, that if I ever have a engine warranty problem, GM can go to OnStar and find out how I drive my car?

I asked GM Insurance if they checked my car via OnStar, and they said yes. So they do check it for some cases. In this case, I was asking if they checked my cars odometer remotely if I had the "low mileage" discount, which states I drive less than 12,000 miles a year. I asked if they would drop the discount when they remotely checked the car at renewal time. The answer was, as I said, "Yes."

If it's allowed here, it starts a slippery slope.

[ZL600 FK]

I have not recieved my new camaro yet, but I did get a new chevy truck. The dealer called onstar with me in the truck when I received it. I have not gotten a call from onstar. Is that the difference! if you do the intital call with the dealer you do not get the random call later?

[Lee123]

Originally Posted by ZL600 FK

I have not recieved my new camaro yet, but I did get a new chevy truck. The dealer called onstar with me in the truck when I received it. I have not gotten a call from onstar. Is that the difference! if you do the intital call with the dealer you do not get the random call later?

Good guess, but no. The salesman did the sign up call with me before I left the lot. I wasn't paying much attention since I mostly just wanted to go drive my new car. I still got a call from a robot in the car.

I wish they hadn't put this in the car and built it into the price, but on the other hand I can see how some folks like it. The BMW 135 that I traded on the Camaro had a very similar system built in. They didn't send emails with your tire pressure, but I don't doubt for a minute that they monitored your car. I was told they would call me and make an appointment when it was time for service.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by 5cents

Rogue ..... This sounds more like it was a telephone call rather than a radio ad. Incoming Bluetooth calls do that, your radio cuts out and the phone voice comes out of the car speakers. Called "hands-free".

No I know the OnStar sales call is something different, I wasn't referring to that. The guy I was replying to was mentioning something said on here a few times which is wrong. In general most of XM does not have commercials (unless an onstar rep calls you, lol)

[djwilson]

Originally Posted by KIZE

Ridiculous overreaction.

Amen to that.

My wife hit a deer (in her Suburban) on I-75 north of Flint MI in November, at night. Didn't set off the airbag, so she just pushed the OnStar button. The quick, polite, competent, help she got was fantastic. She was over an hour away from where we live, in an area where I'd have NO idea who to call for a tow. OnStar even connected the local police department into the call for her. Since her cellphone wasn't tied up with all that, she was able to be talking to me at the same time.

The tow to a dealership within 20 miles would have been free, but she asked if they could tow the truck down to our preferred dealership. That cost extra, but they setup everything. Two hours after the impact, I picked her up at our dealership. Still not a nice thing to have happen, but OnStar was fantastic. The experience would have been a lot worse without them. I wouldn't pay extra to be able to get directions, but I wouldn't want to be without the basic service (and I sure wouldn't want my wife to be without it).